With a well-balanced blend of local stars and out-of-town talent, San Jose Jazz's annual Summer Fest offers opportunities to discover brilliant musicians from near and far.

Here are some highly recommended choices, though it wouldn't have been difficult to double this list. Unless otherwise indicated, all shows are covered by the general admission ticket.

Louie Romero's Mazacote

8:30 p.m. Friday, Kaiser Permanente Salsa Stage

After making a name for himself as a top timbalero on the red-hot New York salsa scene in the 1970s with definitive artists like Willie Colón, Hector "El Cantante" Lavoe, Rubén Blades and Celia Cruz, Louie Romero relocated to the Bay Area, and in 1994 founded Mazacote, one of the West Coast's top Latin dance bands.

Rebirth Brass Band

2 p.m. Saturday, Main Stage

9 p.m. Saturday, YP Blues Stage

A New Orleans institution for some three decades, the Rebirth Brass Band emerged from Tremé with a youthful blast of funk, and they've been supplying the soundtrack to epic Crescent City celebrations ever since.

Joel Behrman Sextet

3 p.m. Saturday, Silicon Valley Stage

Fresh off of filling the big shoes of Miles Davis on a "Kind of Blue" tribute with the album's only surviving player, legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb, San Jose brass expert Joel Behrman makes a rare hometown appearance with a talent-laden band featuring tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley and trombonist Danny Armstrong (longtime bandmates with Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, who play the Big Easy Stage Sunday at 1:30 p.m.).

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Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

4 p.m. Saturday, Main Stage

9 p.m. Saturday, Swing Stage ($20)

Picking up the mantle of his legendary father, the seminal Cuban-born arranger/composer Chico O'Farrill, pianist Arturo O'Farrill has spent the past 15 years leading the Grammy Award-winning 18-piece Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, first under the auspices of Lincoln Center and now through the nonprofit Afro Latin Jazz Alliance. The band is stocked with top-shelf talent and rarely makes it out to the West Coast.

Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio

6 p.m. Saturday, San Jose Rep Stage ($10)

Ever since gaining fame in George Benson's burning mid-1960s quartet, Hammond B-3 star Dr. Lonnie Smith has blazed a singular path on the organ, making strange and beautiful music while interpreting unexpected material (such as tunes by Jimi Hendrix and Beck). His latest trio is a lean, sinewy combo featuring guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Jamire Williams. He also performs Sunday at 4 p.m. on the Main Stage with tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson and pianist Les McCann.

Yosvany Terry Quartet

9 p.m. Saturday 9 p.m. Adobe Blackbird Tavern Stage ($10)

Noon Sunday, Main Stage

Ever since making his North American debut at the Stanford Jazz Festival in 1995, Cuban alto saxophonist Yosvany Terry has cast a large shadow across the U.S. scene. Part of a brilliant cadre of Latin American musicians who are developing personal hybrids combining post-bop concepts and an array of African diaspora rhythms, Terry performs with a combustible quartet featuring his bassist brother Yunior Terry, Cuban-born pianist Osmany Paredes, and Miami-reared drummer Obed Calvaire (the latest member of the SFJAZZ Collective).

Tammy Hall Quintet

2 p.m. Sunday, Adobe Blackbird Tavern Stage

Usually found accompanying one of the region's top singers (such as Kim Nalley, Denise Perrier, Pamela Rose or Rhonda Benin), pianist Tammy Hall is also a fine bandleader in her own right, with a repertoire marked by lithe lyricism and her love of gospel and European classical music. Her deservedly ubiquitous bandmates include bassist Ruth Davies, saxophonist Kristen Strom, percussionist Michaelle Goerlitz and drummer Deszon Claiborne.

The Cookers

3 p.m. Sunday, San Jose Rep Stage ($10)

9 p.m. Sunday, Adobe Blackbird Tavern Stage ($15)

Essentially a mini-festival unto itself, The Cookers is an all-star septet that brings together five of the heaviest hitters from the late 1960s and '70s, with San Francisco-raised trumpeter Eddie Henderson, tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, pianist George Cables, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer extraordinaire Billy Hart. The formidable 50-year-old saxophonist (and Berkeley High alum) Craig Handy represents the succeeding generation, while trumpeter David Weiss, the band's junior member, founded and directs the ensemble. (The band also plays Kuumbwa Jazz in Santa Cruz on Monday and Yoshi's Oakland Aug. 15-16.)

Derrick Hodge

4 p.m. Sunday, Adobe Blackbird Tavern Stage

9 p.m. Sunday, Jazz Beyond Stage ($10)

Just as he's equally accomplished on acoustic and electric bass, Derrick Hodge is a player and composer who can be found working in straight-ahead jazz and contemporary R&B settings. He honed his compositional skills as a longtime member of trumpeter Terence Blanchard's band and has played a central role in the Grammy-winning Robert Glasper Experiment. Touring with a band distilled from his new CD "Live Today" (Blue Note), Hodge also performs Tuesday at Brick & Mortar in San Francisco and Wednesday at The New Parish in Oakland.

Sasha Dobson Duo

7 p.m. Sunday, Silicon Valley Stage

Santa Cruz native Sasha Dobson, a jazz-steeped singer and guitarist who has fully come into her own as an emotionally trenchant songwriter, returns to the Bay Area following the June release of a fantastic new album featuring 11 original songs, "Aquarius" (Creek Valley Records). She's performing a series of duo gigs with guitarist Joel Hamilton, who produced the album, including San Francisco's Café du Nord on Wednesday and Kuumbwa on Aug. 15.

San Jose Jazz Festival

When: Friday through SundayWhere: Venues throughout downtown San Jose with the Main Stage at Plaza de Cesar ChavezTickets: Daily general admission is $20 for adults, $5 for children 5-12; three-day general admission passes are $45 for adults and $15 for children 5-12. There are also VIP packages available for $250 and up. Admission to San Jose Rep Stage is $10 per day, and you must have a general admission ticket. VIP ticket-holders get into the Rep for free. For more information, go to www.sanjosejazz.org.